9 March 2013

Screaming Trees - Sweet Oblivion

Some bands are perceived as under rated during existence, no matter how much
coverage and press they get. One band that gets this sort of image is the
Screaming Trees. Formed in 1985, this was their 6th album and most
successful upon its release. For years they had not been going anywhere
special (in the public's eye at least) and when the Grunge era kicked off they
just seemed to be picked up like many other band who just sounded slightly
alternative. However for these guys it was sort of amazing that they got
where they did. They are classed as part of the god father of grunge
(according to Wikipedia at least). I have a slightly different view as
they seemed to be more psychedelic. But more on that later.
This album is not what you would call a happy album. The title alone seems to
be a band that feels the end of days is coming very soon. The whole album
is a much more flavour record than some of their grunge counterparts, with only
really Pearl Jam having a similar sort of vibe. Also sharing a similarity
with Pearl Jam, Screaming Trees have a towering singer in Mark Lanegan (who
have went on to have a glittering solo career). The man's voice takes some good
songs and makes them more special. The man could read the list of ingredients
for a bag of crisps and make it sound good.
Such songs like "More Or Less" (the album's stand out track),
"Julie Paradise" and "Nearly Lost You" are all classics
from this era. The album itself is a great foundation on to which they
leap in leaps in bound with their next album 'Dust'. However, it is not a
stand out classic overall. There is something about tracks like
"Butterfly" and "For Celebrations Past" that just does not
make it more than a meh. No matter how well they are played, and the
Connor Brothers and co were not sloppy players, it just does not make for a
smooth listening. It is just there and this band was a little bit more exciting
than that.
Would I recommend this to anyone? Yes, it is a good record overall, full of
nice moments, with a few fillers that bring it down from amazing. I do
feel that this band could have gone on to more after their next album but due
to lack of record company support. It is a shame, but if they still had
have been going, Mr Lanegan may not have had the career he has ploughed
since. A good place to start if your looking for grunge which is not part
of the holy quadriplegia.

Life of Agony can never be accused of taking the easy route, that is something that can be said for them. It could be the fact that the...

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